Dallas, Houston Make Top 25 Green Power Buyers List

DALLAS, Texas, January 30, 2008 (ENS) – Wind power has propelled the cities of Dallas and Houston onto the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Top 25 list of green power purchasers for the first time.

Dallas took the No. 9 spot by buying 40 percent of its power from wind sources.

Houston has the No. 12 place for using wind power for 20 percent of its electricity needs.

The listing is important to these cities, both of which have been making an effort to comply with federal clean air standards. They are not yet in compliance, but are moving in the right direction.

“Texas leads the nation in wind power production, and Dallas and Houston are leading the way in showing other cities how green power can help protect the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard Greene. “By shifting to wind and other renewable power sources, cities can cut greenhouse gas emissions and change the way we generate energy.”

EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 850 partner organizations to buy green power voluntarily as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use and to support the development of new, renewable generation resources nationwide.

Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 13 billion kilowatt hours of green power annually.

The National Top 25 list represents more than 60 percent of the green power commitments made by all EPA Green Power Partners.

Dallas purchased more than 333 million kilowatt hours of green power and Houston bought 262 million kilowatt hours.

The total environmental impact of these two purchases is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 84,000 passenger vehicles annually, or the same amount of electricity needed to power an estimated 61,000 average American homes each year, the EPA said.

“The City of Dallas understands that each of us – every individual, every business, every government must act to protect our environment,” said Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert.

“Clearly, this ranking demonstrates on a national level that our commitment is solid, and I am confident we will continue to be a leader on a local and national level, because it’s the right thing to do for our future,” said Mayor Leppert.

Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and biogas, as well as low-impact hydropower. These renewable resources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and produce no net increase to greenhouse gas emissions.

“Purchasing green power helps our city become more sustainable and cost-effective, while also sending a message that supporting clean sources of electricity is both a sound business decision and an important choice in reducing harmful emissions,” said Houston Mayor Bill White.

Dallas and Houston also earned places on the Top 10 Local Government list for green power purchases along with the city of Austin and the Austin Independent School District.